Six labourers killed, 10 injured in coalmine blast

KALAYA: Six labourers were killed and seven others sustained injuries in a coalmine explosion in the Doli area in Orakzai Agency where the Mines and Minerals Department has declared several quarries and tunnels as dangerous, an official said on Thursday.

Political Agent Zubair Khan said that six labourers were killed and seven others injured in the blast caused by the accumulation of gas in one of the mines of the Al-Hussaini Coals Company in the Doli area.

Officials of the Mines and Minerals Department and the rescue team reached the spot and shifted the dead and the injured to a local hospital.The dead were identified as Gul Zamin, Rahmanullah, Arshad Ali, Ali Muhammad, Nizamuddin, and Ishaq Farhan. The injured including Akbar Ali, Hadi, Gul Muhammad, Abdur Rehman, Jaffar Khan, Umar Khan and Rehman Gul were shifted to the Kohat Development Authority Hospital in Kohat.

The funeral prayers for the dead were offered in Doli and the bodies were transported to their native areas.The political agent issued directives for the closure of the mines in Doli and Sra Khoni areas after the incident. It is worth mentioning here that most of the mines in these areas had been closed in the past after the Mines and Minerals Department declared these dangerous.

However, the influential mine-owners continued working the mines in violation of the order. The political administration turned a blind eye to the issue when the order was being violated.Around 148 miners have been killed and more than 200 injured in blasts in the mines in Orakzai Agency during the last few years.

APP adds: Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif on Thursday expressed grief over the death of labourers working in a coalmine in Lower Orakzai.The premier extended condolences to the bereaved families, said a PM’s Office statement from Islmabad. He directed the concerned authorities for provision of best medical facilities to the injured.